Contact Energy New CEO Appointed
ASX/Media Releases
31 Mar 2006
Origin Energy today announced the appointment of David Baldwin to a senior executive role. Mr Baldwin will be seconded to the position of Chief Executive Officer of Contact Energy Limited commencing 1 May 2006.
Origin Energy has a 51.36% interest in Contact Energy Limited.
Following is a copy of the announcement made by Contact Energy to the New Zealand Stock Exchange today.
Contact’s Chairman, Mr Grant King, today announced that the Board will appoint Mr David Baldwin as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer.
Mr Baldwin is a New Zealander who grew up in the South Island, graduated from Canterbury University with an engineering degree and from Victoria University with an MBA and has since had a highly successful international career in the energy industry.
“We are delighted to be able to fill this important role with someone of Mr Baldwin’s international experience and calibre” said Grant King. Mr Baldwin is currently based in Hong Kong where he oversees the energy asset interests of Ritchie Capital, a US investment fund with approximately $5 billion of assets under management.
Prior to his current role, Mr Baldwin spent eight years with MidAmerican Energy Holdings, an international energy company with around 17,000 MW of generation capacity, and serving over 6 million gas and electricity customers.
Between 1998 and 2004 Mr Baldwin was responsible for MidAmerican’s operations in the Philippines, which included three geothermal plants and a combined hydro-electric and irrigation development. In 2004 he transferred to MidAmerican’s US headquarters, where he assumed responsibility for the firm’s global development and acquisition initiatives, which included public and private utilities, LNG projects, gas storage and transmission assets.
Mr Baldwin began his career as a project engineer in New Zealand with Shell, which he joined in 1986. He also spent a period with SouthPac Corporation, the merchant banking arm of National Bank of New Zealand.
Mr Baldwin will assume the role of Chief Executive on a secondment basis from Origin Energy, Contact’s majority shareholder. During the term of the secondment, Contact will reimburse Origin for the cost of Mr Baldwin’s salary and other employment benefits. These comprise fixed compensation of $650,000 pa and variable compensation up to a maximum of 110% of fixed pay in a mix of short and long term incentives.
Mr Baldwin will take up the position from 1st May 2006.
“Mr Baldwin’s qualifications and experience make him ideally suited to the challenges that Contact face in the years ahead” said Grant King.
Biography of David Baldwin
After completing his bachelor of engineering (chemical and process) from the University of Canterbury in 1985, Mr Baldwin joined Shell in Wellington as a project engineer at the company’s surfactant manufacturing complex in Petone where his responsibilities included the development of a surfactant additives facility and undertaking projects on the company’s existing facilities. In 1989, Mr Baldwin relocated to Shell’s global headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands, where he worked on the development of large-scale petrochemical projects. His assignment in the Netherlands continued in 1991 when he was posted as an Assistant Section Head at Shell’s Pernis manufacturing complex near Rotterdam. While he was at Pernis Mr Baldwin’s responsibilities included overseeing the operations of three petrochemical facilities.
Mr Baldwin attended Victoria University in 1993 to undertake a master of business administration. Following completion in 1994, he joined SouthPac Corporation, the then merchant banking arm of the National Bank of New Zealand, as a manager responsible for economic and risk analyses in support of merger and acquisition opportunities for the firm’s energy clients. In early 1995, Mr Baldwin was seconded to AsiaPower Developments, a joint venture between SouthPac and Brierley Investments and relocated to Jakarta, Indonesia, to manage the development of a geothermal power project for AsiaPower. In 1997, Mr Baldwin joined CalEnergy International, an affiliate of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, in Indonesia as vice president development, where he was responsible for new business and project development in Asia, including supporting the development and construction of CalEnergy’s six geothermal power projects located in Indonesia and the Philippines. In May 1998, Mr Baldwin relocated to Manila, Philippines, as president of MidAmerican’s Philippine business which, in addition to 550 MW of geothermal power, included the development and construction of the US$650 million Casecnan multipurpose irrigation and hydroelectric power project. Mr Baldwin left the Philippines in 2004 to take up an assignment as senior vice president with responsibility for global development and acquisitions including public and private utilities, LNG projects, gas storage and transmission assets in MidAmerican’s Omaha, Nebraska, headquarters.
Mr Baldwin left MidAmerican in mid-2005 to join the Chicago-based alternative investment fund, Ritchie Capital, at the firm’s Hong Kong office. From September 2005, Mr Baldwin was responsible for a team of investment managers involved in the development, acquisition and oversight of US$800 million of private equity investments in the energy sector in the Americas and Asia.
Mr Baldwin is married with two children.
Origin Energy has a 51.36% interest in Contact Energy Limited.
Following is a copy of the announcement made by Contact Energy to the New Zealand Stock Exchange today.
Contact’s Chairman, Mr Grant King, today announced that the Board will appoint Mr David Baldwin as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer.
Mr Baldwin is a New Zealander who grew up in the South Island, graduated from Canterbury University with an engineering degree and from Victoria University with an MBA and has since had a highly successful international career in the energy industry.
“We are delighted to be able to fill this important role with someone of Mr Baldwin’s international experience and calibre” said Grant King. Mr Baldwin is currently based in Hong Kong where he oversees the energy asset interests of Ritchie Capital, a US investment fund with approximately $5 billion of assets under management.
Prior to his current role, Mr Baldwin spent eight years with MidAmerican Energy Holdings, an international energy company with around 17,000 MW of generation capacity, and serving over 6 million gas and electricity customers.
Between 1998 and 2004 Mr Baldwin was responsible for MidAmerican’s operations in the Philippines, which included three geothermal plants and a combined hydro-electric and irrigation development. In 2004 he transferred to MidAmerican’s US headquarters, where he assumed responsibility for the firm’s global development and acquisition initiatives, which included public and private utilities, LNG projects, gas storage and transmission assets.
Mr Baldwin began his career as a project engineer in New Zealand with Shell, which he joined in 1986. He also spent a period with SouthPac Corporation, the merchant banking arm of National Bank of New Zealand.
Mr Baldwin will assume the role of Chief Executive on a secondment basis from Origin Energy, Contact’s majority shareholder. During the term of the secondment, Contact will reimburse Origin for the cost of Mr Baldwin’s salary and other employment benefits. These comprise fixed compensation of $650,000 pa and variable compensation up to a maximum of 110% of fixed pay in a mix of short and long term incentives.
Mr Baldwin will take up the position from 1st May 2006.
“Mr Baldwin’s qualifications and experience make him ideally suited to the challenges that Contact face in the years ahead” said Grant King.
Biography of David Baldwin
After completing his bachelor of engineering (chemical and process) from the University of Canterbury in 1985, Mr Baldwin joined Shell in Wellington as a project engineer at the company’s surfactant manufacturing complex in Petone where his responsibilities included the development of a surfactant additives facility and undertaking projects on the company’s existing facilities. In 1989, Mr Baldwin relocated to Shell’s global headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands, where he worked on the development of large-scale petrochemical projects. His assignment in the Netherlands continued in 1991 when he was posted as an Assistant Section Head at Shell’s Pernis manufacturing complex near Rotterdam. While he was at Pernis Mr Baldwin’s responsibilities included overseeing the operations of three petrochemical facilities.
Mr Baldwin attended Victoria University in 1993 to undertake a master of business administration. Following completion in 1994, he joined SouthPac Corporation, the then merchant banking arm of the National Bank of New Zealand, as a manager responsible for economic and risk analyses in support of merger and acquisition opportunities for the firm’s energy clients. In early 1995, Mr Baldwin was seconded to AsiaPower Developments, a joint venture between SouthPac and Brierley Investments and relocated to Jakarta, Indonesia, to manage the development of a geothermal power project for AsiaPower. In 1997, Mr Baldwin joined CalEnergy International, an affiliate of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, in Indonesia as vice president development, where he was responsible for new business and project development in Asia, including supporting the development and construction of CalEnergy’s six geothermal power projects located in Indonesia and the Philippines. In May 1998, Mr Baldwin relocated to Manila, Philippines, as president of MidAmerican’s Philippine business which, in addition to 550 MW of geothermal power, included the development and construction of the US$650 million Casecnan multipurpose irrigation and hydroelectric power project. Mr Baldwin left the Philippines in 2004 to take up an assignment as senior vice president with responsibility for global development and acquisitions including public and private utilities, LNG projects, gas storage and transmission assets in MidAmerican’s Omaha, Nebraska, headquarters.
Mr Baldwin left MidAmerican in mid-2005 to join the Chicago-based alternative investment fund, Ritchie Capital, at the firm’s Hong Kong office. From September 2005, Mr Baldwin was responsible for a team of investment managers involved in the development, acquisition and oversight of US$800 million of private equity investments in the energy sector in the Americas and Asia.
Mr Baldwin is married with two children.